


How to train your Dragon Keeper

by Evil_and_I_know_it



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Fluff, M/M, Original Character(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-12
Updated: 2014-09-12
Packaged: 2018-02-17 02:51:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2294204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_and_I_know_it/pseuds/Evil_and_I_know_it
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry POV "I like dragons, I really do. Even though one of them tried to kill me, I've always been fascinated by them. Luckily they like me too. Well, most of them. Ever since that silver dragon arrived, my life has turned upside down. I've never given him a reason to hate me. He's like a certain blonde git I used to know..."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Slash Draco/Harry, Harry/OC, mention of homophobia and some violence in the next chapters. May turn M rated.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. All of them belong to Queen Rowling
> 
> Epilogue compliant? No EWE, also Sirius, Remus and Fred are still alive.

Harry Potter was not having a good day. Of course being covered in dragon snot was not an ideal way to start the day. Charlie Weasley took one long look at him before erupting in laughter.

"It's not funny Weasley," scowled Harry.

"Oh, but it is Potter," said Charlie.

"Remind me again why I have to take care of all the sick ones?"

"Well because you're the Boy-who-Lived! We're hoping some of your luck rubs off on them," laughed Charlie. Harry growled and stared at Charlie menacingly. Charlie continued to laugh, ruffled Harry's hair and walked off.

Harry sighed. He supposed all apprentices had to go through cleaning duties and menial labor. Being the 'Boy-who-Lived' is not going to save him from being sneezed on. It was a rather unconventional choice for a career. The wizard world was shocked to say the least when he announced that he'd rather clean dragon dung than be an auror. They got over it fairly quick but then he just had to go stir things up by also announcing he was gay. After the announcement he was flooded with declarations of love, gifts, chocolate, flowers and a fair few howlers. After one particularly nasty howler about how he had defeated the Dark Lord by "flagrantly displaying his unnaturalness" and that the Dark Lord died simply from shock because "the most powerful wizard in the world after Dumbledore was a ponce." Harry decided that it was time to move on. He called his closest friends and announced that he was moving to Romania to work under Charlie. Ron and Hermione were sad to see him go but they understood. Luna just smiled and told him to go find his future. After a few final goodbyes he left London and only returned for holidays.

That was two years ago. Now at 20, he was slowly learning the ropes of being an actual dragon keeper. Charlie always said that with dragons, you learn something new every day and Harry was enjoying every minute of it, except when it was his turn to clean the dragon enclosures. The training reservation was located in a magically secluded part of Fagaras Mountains in Romania. The reservation itself was built around Capra Lake situated within the mountains. Although not many muggles came to see the lake, the reservation still had magical protection. Harry loved the location, the view from the mountains was breathtaking and the lake itself was absolutely beautiful. It was peaceful, unlike the hustle of city life. Here Harry could dance around wearing a pink tutu and nobody would write an article about his secret "fetishes". Harry smiled at the view, but then groaned when he remembered his work for the day.

Today, Harry was taking care of a beautiful Romanian Longhorn named Esmeralda. A very appropriate although obvious name for the green dragon. Harry wasn't sure how dragons got the cold, but he wasn't very happy with the fact that they did. At first her sneezes were violent, covering everyone in 10 meter radius with green flame and dragon snot. The in-house healer, Anya gave her a potion which stopped the fire but not the sneezes. She explained that the cold had to run its course and would subside eventually. Harry sighed and gently patted Esmeralda on her snout. It was going to be a long weekend.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Slash, slight violence and I apologise in advance to any romanians if I got some of the words wrong
> 
> Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned below belong to J. K Rowling

Harry woke up late the next day with a distinctly uneasy feeling. Something was bothering him and he just couldn't put a finger on it. He shook it off and got up; whatever that feeling indicated could wait until after his shower. He quickly got ready before heading out for breakfast. Esmeralda was still down with a cold and he would need to hurry because a grumpy Esmeralda equals a burnt Harry. He grabbed some breakfast and a newspaper before sitting down in the dining hall. Suddenly someone snatched his muffin and took a large bite.

"Nico! Get your own muffin!"

"Ah but Harry iubita mea, whatever you eat seems so much tastier", winked Nico.

Harry blushed. Nicholae Dragomir was a junior dragon keeper who worked with Charlie too. He was a local and his s parents and sister lived in Bucharest. He was one of those tall, dark and handsome guys that always made Harry blush. He was undoubtedly stunning with his jet black shoulder length hair, baby blue eyes and dimples you could sink in. He was 26 and had joined the reservation when he was 18, just like Harry. He was the first friend Harry had made at the reservation and every year Harry joined Nico and his family for dinner on Nico's birthday. Harry had a not-so-obvious-but-everyone-knows-about-it crush on him and he was quite sure Nico knew about it. If anything, Nico encouraged it. It was quite obvious that he liked Harry too, but wasn't sure if the boy was ready for a serious relationship.

"So how is Esmeralda feeling? I hope for your sake she is much better. Dragon colds can be so troublesome," said Nico. Nico finished Harry's muffin and made a move to grab his tea. Harry snatched his cup and drank it all in a gulp before Nico could blink.

"She's doing fine; Anya says she'll get better over the weekend. And you, get your own breakfast next time," Harry mock-glared. Nico just grinned in reply and chuckled at Harry rolling his eyes.

"Join me for lunch, my mama sent some of her famous Joffre cake. I know how much you love it." Nico was giving him the puppy dog look. Harry sighed. He could never resist Nico when he was like this and he couldn't say no to cake.

"Lunch," promised Harry. Nico beamed and before Harry could say another word, he placed a swift kiss on Harry's cheek and walked away whistling.

Harry was still blushing by the time he got to Esmeralda. The dragon gave him a look as if she knew exactly what was running through his head. "Oh shut up you overgrown lizard," grumbled Harry. And then, Harry swore that she smirked at him. He was still gaping like a fish when Anya walked in.

"Are you alright there Harry? You look a bit shell-shocked," asked Anya, visibly worried.

"I'm fine. Check on her please, she looks better already. Hopefully she's okay and I can have a relaxing weekend instead of cleaning her nostrils."

Anya laughed and went over to the dragon. She pulled out her wand and swished it around in a complicated fashion. Some colored lines appeared in front of her and she seemed happy. "Well Harry, I guess today is your lucky day. The cold seems to have vanished overnight. She'll need to take a potion for weakness but other than that she's just fine."

"Thank you, I was really tired of getting burnt. I guess I'll see you around. I've got to go tell Charlie about my free weekend," grinned Harry. Anya waved at him as he ran off to find Charlie.

It wasn't hard to find Charlie; Harry just had to follow the loud roar and string of colorful curses that came from the enclosures. The reservation was divided into two parts: the breeding grounds and the training grounds. Harry, Charlie, Nico and some others worked at the training grounds. Only the most experienced trainers were allowed into the breeding grounds, even Charlie would have to train for years to achieve that. Taking care of dragons was hard enough, but taking care of dragons when they were in heat was something extraordinarily difficult. When Harry found him, Charlie was covered in sweat and nursing a burnt arm glaring at a male, Hebridian Black dragon. Harry stared at the dragon in awe; the beast was up to 30 feet long.

"Charlie, when did we get a Hebridian Black?"

"This morning, the welsh reservation sent him over. He is too aggressive for them to handle," said Charlie. "And now he hates me for putting him in chains. He burnt three of the trainers that tried before me. His name is Astor, it means preying. Grimly appropriate don't you think?"

Harry nodded. "Do you need any help with him?"

"Oh no, I'm fine. Why'd you come looking for me? I reckon it's important," asked Charlie. "And if you're looking to dump Esmeralda on someone else, don't count on it. We're all busy this weekend."

Harry grinned. "That's why I came to see you. She's completely fine now; the cold's all gone according to Anya. I'm free this weekend so I came to rub it in. Don't worry, I'll come by and help you out, if I want to."

"Cheeky bugger, you'll probably too busy snogging that arse Dragomir to even think about me," Charlie grumbled.

"He is not an arse," protested Harry. "He's kind, sweet, generous and those dimples." Harry sighed dreamily.

Charlie laughed and patted him on the back sympathetically. "You've got it bad, mate."

Just as Harry was about to reply, there was a deafening roar and sick thud.

Harry sighed. "Well, that can't be good."

Both of them rushed out to find out the source of all the commotion. Charlie looked around and noticed something strange. All of the keepers and healers were running in one direction. It clicked.

"They're headed towards the lake. Come on, let's go." Charlie ran out of the enclosure, with the intention to find out what the hell was going on.

Harry ran as fast as he could to keep up with Charlie. By the time they reached the lake, almost everyone was there. Harry craned his neck to see what everyone was looking at. What he saw, first took his breath away and then made his blood boil.

Next to the lake, lay a magnificent dragon about 25 feet long. It had a short horn on its snout and was covered in silver scales. It would have looked beautiful but for one thing, its entire body was covered in bruises. The dragon's wings were covered in bruises and twisted cruelly. It looked like someone had specially gone out of their way to destroy the wings. Other than that, it looked like someone had whipped the creature with a barbed leather belt repeatedly, all over its body. Most of the wounds were still bleeding; it was a wonder the dragon was still alive. Harry fumed. How could someone be heartless enough to torture a living creature like this?

The dragon suddenly shifted, it opened its maw and let out a roar full of pain and agony. Harry's heart clenched at the sound. It sounded so painful, so raw. Harry saw Charlie had tears in his eyes; the attack on the dragon was so brutal it made the most hardened men cry. The dragon slowly opened one eye and looked around warily. And in that one grey eye Harry saw so much sorrow and loneliness that he felt himself lose control and give into his tears.

iubita mea: my beloved

Joffre cake: chocolate buttermilk layer cake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read and review!


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Slash, apologies to any Romanians if I have unintentionally offended them.
> 
> Disclaimer: All the characters belong to J.K Rowling

Harry stood silently, trying to stop his tears without much success. The murmurs that had begun after the dragons' appearance slowly subsided. Stefan, the head of the reservation was talking to Anya who was doing a basic physical checkup. He was a rugged looking man with burns that stood out on his tan skin. His cool hazel eyes shimmered with barely suppressed anger. He had worked with dragons ever since he was a child and eventually took over the reservation. Cruelty and violence while handling the dragons was one thing he did not tolerate. After they finished talking he came forward and addressed the crowd.

"Now, let's all get one thing clear. This poor dragon is under our protection and will be until further notice. It's not injured because it flew into a mountain; whoever did this is probably still looking for it. It was lucky enough to get away before it was killed. I want all of you to be very careful, one word of this leaks out and the press will be all over it. He's a male dragon of unidentified origin and you will be gentle with him. Am I understood?"

Everyone nodded and murmured their assent. Stefan looked around once and nodded.

"Right. Anya, try to see if you can give him a potion to knock him out. He's in pain and it would be easier to move him if he's unconscious." He turned to Harry. "Potter, I understand you're free this weekend. He'll be your responsibility from now on. Name him and try to form some sort of bond with him. Get him to trust you because if he doesn't you'll become the boy-who-became-dragon-food. You're a good lad; I don't want to lose you so soon. " With that Stefan walked off towards the dragon where Anya was running diagnostics.

Harry stared after him with mixed feelings. He was glad that he could help out the dragon but at the same time he was losing his free weekend. He shook his head. Stop being selfish Potter, he scolded himself. It's an honor to help that dragon and besides, he thought, I'll get to name it. When Harry first arrived at the reservation, he thought they named dragons randomly. But, he soon found out that it was something special. The person that has to train the dragon and take responsibility for it gets to name it. It forms a special bond between the trainer and dragon. This was Harry's first time naming a dragon and he felt extremely proud. Determined to try his best, Harry joined Stefan and the others near the dragon.

Stefan was organizing fifteen people to help him lift the dragon and transport him to an enclosure. He had chosen fifteen of the strongest wizards to help him, including Charlie and Nico, and had sent the rest back to the reservation. Anya was able to sedate the dragon and declared that he would be unconscious for the next few hours. "Okay," he said. "Wands at the ready, and when I give you the signal raise your wands to lift him up." Everyone pointed their wands at the dragon. "Ready, wait for it and NOW."

Everyone slowly raised their wands and the dragon was lifted a few feet above the ground. "Right men, it's going to be a bit tough moving him. We'll try and go as slow as possible but make sure your wand is steady. Let's go."

The sixteen men slowly made their way to the nearest empty enclosure. It was slow, hard work and everyone was feeling the strain. When they finally reached the enclosure after a brutal forty-five minutes, one of the keepers collapsed from the exhaustion. When they moved to help him, Stefan waved them away. "Get some rest; I'll take him to the infirmary. I expect you back at work in fifteen minutes," said Stefan and levitated the man to the infirmary.

The rest of the men dropped down on the ground, sweating and breathing hard. One of them summoned some water from the dining hall and passed it around.

"So Harry, what are you going to name him?" asked Charlie.

"I don't know, I haven't really thought about it. Do you guys have any ideas?"

He got a wide variety of names, ranging from Argentum and Canus to Bob and Goldie. When Charlie suggested Goldie as a name, the group burst into laughter.

"Mate, he's silver not gold," laughed Harry.

"I really don't care, I'll leave the color coding to you girls," grumbled Charlie. "I've got work and if you lads are done lazing about, I'd like to get to it."

After half-hearted mutters about Charlie being a buzzkill they all wished Harry luck and left. Nico lingered for a bit to talk to Harry.

"Hey lovebirds, hurry up. Nico has work to do," called Charlie. Whistles and catcalls followed, someone even made kissing noises.

"Fuck you too, Weasley," scowled Harry.

Nico laughed. "You're adorable when you're angry."

Harry blushed. "Um...thanks, I think?"

Nico laughed again. "Harry drăguță, I don't think it is appropriate for us to have lunch together today."

"Oh." Harry's face fell and he tried to not look too disappointed.

"Harry look at me." Nico gently cupped his cheek and looked into his eyes. "Believe me when I say that I was looking forward to this the whole day. But you have a new assignment and not an easy one at that. He'll require constant care and as much as I love spending time with you, your dragon needs you more right now. And besides, I don't want to get you into trouble with Stefan. You know what he's like if you have long lunches."

Harry sighed, Nico was right as usual. They could have lunch anytime, but right now he had to take care of the dragon.

"Fine," said Harry. "But you have to save some cake for me. Deal?"

"Deal," Nico promised. He gently kissed Harry's forehead and looked into his eyes once more. "Be careful, injured dragons can be deadly."

"I will," said Harry cheerfully. "I'll see you later then."

"See you Harry."

As Harry watched Nico walk off, he felt strangely happy with all that had happened. He peeked into the enclosure to see if the dragon was still sleeping. Satisfied to see that it was, he made his way to Anya who would tell him more about the dragon's injuries.

He found her in her office at the infirmary. She looked harried as she arranged different papers on her desk. Along with all the papers, a number of colorful tubes also covered the desk. Harry coughed.

"Need a hand?"

"Oh Harry, yes please." Together they started putting away all the tubes and papers in their proper places. As they worked, they talked about the newest addition to their lives.

"I was just coming to see you actually, before you came to my office. We need to go check on him as soon as we're done here," said Anya.

"Of course we will." Harry scratched his head.

"Um, Anya?"

"Yes?"

"You realize that we can do magic and we've been acting like utter fools and wasting our time?"

"Crap. Well, its too late now. We've already finished everything."

They both laughed at their own silliness and left the infirmary carrying a few of the tubes. They had almost reached their destination when they heard a soft groan. Alarmed, both of them rushed into the dragon's enclosure. He was awake and clearly in pain. He tried to growl and move away when Anya pulled out her wand. She slowly walked towards him and made soothing noises. The dragon slowly calmed down and made no move to attack her.

"Quickly Harry, before he gets defensive again. Give me the blue tube."

Harry rushed ahead with the tube. Anya slowly pried open the dragon's maw and poured the potion in. Harry felt the dragon relax instantly. He turned to Anya.

"What was that?"

"It was a painkiller and a sedative. It insured that he'll stay asleep for another twenty four hours. That gives us enough time to work on his external injuries without aggravating him."

Harry nodded and turned to look at the dragon. To his surprise, it was looking straight at him with a glaring intensity. The grey eyes were burning with some kind of emotion, Harry couldn't guess what. Slowly the intensity dimmed and the eyes closed. Those eyes reminded him of someone that used to stare at him with hatred and scorn in his eyes.

"Draco," said Harry softly. "I think I'll call him Draco."

"Draco," intoned Anya. "Appropriate. I think he'll like it. Come on, let's get some lunch. I'm starving."

Harry smiled and followed her out. He sure hoped the dragon would like his new name.

Argentum: silver

Canus: light grey

drăguță: sweetheart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read and review!


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Slash, no beta so any mistakes are my own.
> 
> Disclaimer: All mentioned characters belong to J.K Rowling.

As soon as they finished lunch, Anya and Harry went to check on Draco. Anya made some flicking motions with her wand and some colorful graphs showed up in front of her.

She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Well Harry, he doesn't have any internal bleeding which is good. But there's something very fishy about his physiology. These graphs indicate that his bones were grown within two days. And even the stupidest of people know that it takes years for dragons to grow to this size. I'm going to have to run more tests before treating him. He's going to be in a lot of pain today."

"Hang on for a bit," protested Harry. "Just because his internal organs are a bit odd, you're not going to heal him? That's not right and you know it. At least heal his external injuries, I can help. I'm pretty good with an Episky." Harry gave her his most charming smile.

Anya sighed. "Oh, alright. Although with his injuries, I'm not sure an episky will do the trick. Stay here for a bit, I'll go get some painkillers so that he won't wake up in agony."

Harry mentally cheered as she left. Then he turned to Draco, frowning. If Anya was right and she generally was, this was more complicated than they had first imagined. He decided that he would go talk to Stefan after they were done healing the external injuries. He walked around the dragon, mentally assessing which injuries needed to be healed first. Anya's voice made him jump.

"Am I disturbing you, Healer Potter?" she joked.

"Merlin, don't sneak up on me like that. You nearly gave me a heart-attack."

"Sorry." Anya grinned. "Well, come on then. Open his mouth; I have to pour the potion in."

Harry looked a bit hesitant. "Are you sure that he won't wake up and cook me? I mean I trust your sedatives, but I don't trust his body."

Anya laughed. "This from the guy that defeated the Dark Lord when he was seventeen? Don't be scared princess; I'll protect you if the big bad dragon wakes up."

Harry scowled but did as he was told. He slowly pried open the dragon's jaw and Anya quickly poured the potion down its throat. Satisfied the potion had gone down the right pipe, Anya signaled Harry to gently close its mouth.

"Now that the hard part is over, what next?" asked Harry.

"Now I teach you a new spell. Episky won't work on most of his injuries, his wounds are too deep, but we can use it on his bruises. We'll heal the gashes first and then fix his wings. Repeat after me, Vulnera Sanentur."

"Vulnera Sanentur. Okay, got it. I'll do the left and you do the right?"

Anya nodded and both of them got to work. They worked on deeper wounds first, slowly and steadily letting the magic close the wound. After fifteen minutes of concentration they successfully closed all of the gaping wounds. After they finished those, they worked on his bruises. Harry was extremely thankful that Draco was asleep; he didn't fancy facing a hostile dragon in pain. Ten minutes later, they were a little tired but very happy. They sat down to take a break.

"So," began Harry. "How do you plan on fixing his wings without waking him up? I know it involves some sort cast because his bones are broken, but won't he break the casts once he's awake?"

Anya gave him a look. "What's with all the questions? You weren't interested in all this before. Is it because this is your first official assignment?"

Harry hesitated. "Yes and no. I want to impress Stefan, but I feel this weird connection to this dragon. It might be because I got to name it or it might be something more."

Anya nodded understandingly. "It's very common over here. Our work is very special and we can't help connect to the creatures that are involved. Do cheer up, this happens to everyone."

Harry smiled, got up and stretched. "Thank you for understanding."

She stood up and ruffled his hair. "Anytime, Harry."

She walked past him and looked at Draco's wings. "I won't answer your questions; I'll give you a live demo. And you don't have to look so worried whenever I touch Draco, that sedative is strong enough to knock out a full grown troll for three days. I think we're safe for a day at least. Come over here and hold his wing, I need it to be straight for the spell to work. Remember not to move, there are a lot of bones in a dragon's wing and I want to heal all of them."

Harry did as instructed and held the wing like one would hold breakable glass.

Anya pointed her wand at the wing and said very clearly, "Brackium Emendo." Then she stared at the wing for five minutes and pointed to another part of the wing. Just as she was about to cast the spell, Harry interrupted her.

"I'm really sorry, but I have to know. Why were you staring at the wing like that?"

"This is a tricky spell, Harry. If I don't concentrate while casting it and check it after, I might vanish his bones instead of healing them. No more talking okay? I want to finish this today."

Harry stood silently, recalling an unpleasant experience in his second year with Professor Lockhart. Anya worked slowly, mending all the broken bones on the wing. As soon as she finished, Harry set the wing down and both of them moved on to the next wing. By the time she was done, Anya was absolutely exhausted.

"Thank god that's done. I have to admit, I was a bit wary when you asked me to heal him as soon as possible. But I'm really glad I agreed, if we would have waited any longer we might have faced complications. And also an angry dragon," admitted Anya.

"Yeah, that wouldn't have been pleasant," agreed Harry. "I think its best you go take some rest now. You did all the hard work; the least I can do is go and report our progress to the big boss man."

"Thanks, Harry." Anya stretched. "I could do with a nap right now. I'll see you at dinner. Oh, and remember, Draco won't be up until tomorrow afternoon. So don't harass me with your conspiracy theories, okay? Bye Harry."

Harry grinned sheepishly at her retreating figure. He knew he could be a bit overbearing at times. He looked at Draco and satisfied that he was still sleeping, he went to find Stefan. On the way to Stefan's office he ran into Nico. After five minutes of stuttering and blushing, Harry made his excuses and ran off but not before he heard Nico laugh at his silliness.

Cursing his ineffective flirting and mumbling something about "annoyingly hot Romanians" he walked into Stefan.

Looking up to apologize, Harry found an amused look on the older man's face.

"When you said 'annoyingly hot Romanians', I hope you weren't talking about me Potter. You know as well as I do that Dragomir has his eye on you, it wouldn't be right for us to be together," teased Stefan.

Harry flushed and started stuttering an apology. Stefan took pity on him and asked him about his day.

"Oh," said Harry, relieved. "It was quite productive. I named the dragon Draco and me and Anya healed all of his external wounds and bruises." They walked as Harry talked about Draco's odd physiology and how Anya had fixed his wings.

"Well, I'm very proud of you and Anya for achieving so much in one day. I'll come with you tomorrow morning and help with the extra tests. You can go take some rest now. You've done well, Potter."

Harry beamed at the praise and went to his quarters for a shower and a nap.

He woke up at around 7:30 and got dressed for dinner. He went to the dining hall and sat down next to Charlie.

"Hey kid, I heard you did well today. Good for you, mate. But tell me, did you really have to name your dragon after that snotty Malfoy kid?"

Charlie sounded so pathetically whiny, that Harry burst into laughter. Ignoring the affronted 'Hey!' he went to get some food. By the time he came back, Charlie was joined by Nico, Anya and a couple of other keepers. He sat down next to David, a newbie and listened to the conversation. They were arguing the moral benefits of cleaning dragon dung. Random sentences were thrown about.

"It builds character."

"It makes you sexier."

"It makes your hair shiny."

"It makes you more confident."

"If you lot don't stop talking about dragon dung during dinner, you're going to clean it for the next week," threatened Stefan from another table.

That effectively killed the argument and they moved on the safer topics. Harry smiled into his soup. He loved his job sometimes.

"What are you smiling about?" grumbled Charlie. "He ruined everything, I was really hoping for an all-out food fight. I should have nailed him with my pie and started it off."

Harry choked and Charlie had to thump his back to get him breathing again. He gasped and started laughing again. Charlie just shook his head. Defeater of Voldemort he may be but normal he ain't.

I got the spells from Harry Potter wikia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read and review!


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Slash, swearing, no beta so any mistakes are my own and a little Cho-bashing. I don't dislike her, I just thought Harry shouldn't have dated her.
> 
> Disclaimer: All mentioned characters belong to J.K Rowling.

Harry made his way to breakfast the next day with a giant smile on his face.

"Good morning," he chirped. Charlie groaned and buried his face in his arms.

"It's too damn early to be that chipper, Potter. What happened to you? Dragomir finally put out?" grumbled Charlie.

Harry blushed and looked around to see if anyone heard Charlie. Satisfied that no one was in the nearby vicinity, he hit Charlie upside the head.

"Watch it, Weasley," hissed Harry. "I don't want anyone to find out."

Charlie snorted and rubbed the back of his head. "Trust me Harry, everyone knows. We have a bet going on about when he'll finally grow some balls and ask you out. My bet is on never because let's face it, the guy's a wimp."

Harry frowned. He had never heard Charlie put anyone down, especially fellow keepers.

"Why don't you like Nico?" he asked finally. "Did he do something? He's perfectly polite to you and I've never heard you be mean to him. So what is it?"

Charlie sighed. "I really don't know, Harry. The guy just gives me weird vibes. I know it sounds like a load of steaming BS, but he really creeps me out. It's like he's too perfect, which is totally unbelievable. I want you to be careful when it comes to him, Harry. Don't rush into anything like you usually do."

Harry smiled, warmed at the concern in Charlie's voice.

"Don't worry I'll be fine. And I understand about the weird vibes thing. Having Voldemort in my head has made sympathetic to all things weird. Now, I have to go. We're running more tests on Draco before he wakes up."

"Good luck with that. Astor has been nothing but a bitch since he came here. I've got burns the size of Ireland."

Harry chuckled and waved at him before heading towards Draco's enclosure. He was thinking about what Charlie had said to him about Nico, when he ran into Stefan who was also heading to the enclosure.

They discussed Draco's condition and the nature of the tests that they would be doing that day.

"I won't be of much use, I'm afraid," confessed Harry.

"Don't worry, Potter. You can do fetching and carrying. Anya is going to do some muggle DMA test too, so during that time I'll keep you company. I'm useless at muggle things."

They both laughed and then Stefan turned serious.

"I've been thinking and I don't like the direction of my thoughts," admitted Stefan. "They all lead to foul play and if Anya's tests prove that, we'll have to get the ministry involved. I hate those smug bastards and more than that I hate the fact that some creature has been turned into a dragon and tortured for some sick experiment."

Harry frowned. He hadn't thought of it that way, there were bad people in the wizarding world, but there was nothing this bad since Voldemort.

Stefan continued. "Who knows what can happen? What if he reacts badly to our treatment? I guess we'll just have charge forward blind. I sure hope Anya knows what she's doing."

Harry said nothing the rest of the way, deep in thought. When they reached the enclosure, Anya was already waiting for them with her hands holding a book.

"I thought you were going to run some tests? Why do you only have a book in your hand? Where are the things you might need?" asked Harry confused.

Anya laughed and pulled out her wand. "This is all I'll need. Well, this and someone to help with the difficult incantations, that's what Stefan is for. You are here only because the dragon is under your care and I like to look at pretty things while working."

They all laughed and made their way to the still unconscious dragon. Once Harry had settled down in a corner where he wouldn't disturb them and had a good view of the proceedings, Anya and Stefan got to work. They pored over some medical text for the next fifteen minutes, nodding and pointing while Harry grew impatient.

"Are you going to do something or are you going to read the whole day?" snapped Harry.

"Patience, young dragon," said Anya in an eerily accurate Chinese accent. "Good things come to those who wait."

Stefan chuckled and put the book down when Harry huffed and pouted.

"Okay, enough fooling around. Let's get to business. Anya, are you ready?"

Anya nodded and took a deep breath. Stefan looked at her and together they started to mutter some complicated incantation. Curious to know what they were doing, Harry picked up the book and read the description.

Apparently, it was an ancient spell used by wizards to find out if their pets were enchanted when they behaved oddly. Harry snorted. He hoped Anya and Stefan knew what they were doing; Draco wasn't exactly a mad dog. Eager to see what else the book contained, he flipped over the pages finding the most useful and useless spells. Engrossed in the book, he didn't realize that Anya and Stefan were done. He looked up to see their grim faces.

"Bad news?"

"The worst," Anya confirmed. "Don't go by the spell's description, it's useless. Other than finding out their pets were enchanted, they could also find out what kind of enchantment and what was the purpose of it. We did some other spells too, so don't look so incredulous."

"But, this is very worrying," continued Stefan. "We couldn't find any sort of enchantment, but we did detect some sort of dark magic that gave a very strong indication to malicious intent. He wasn't cursed or enchanted, so that leaves…"

"A potion," guessed Harry. "I mean, with enough knowledge and books on dark magic, someone can pull this off right?"

Stefan's eyes hardened and he looked even grimmer.

"This is even more serious than I first anticipated. I really don't want to involve the ministry in this until we find out what actually happened. Listen Potter, I want you to keep this to yourself. Don't tell Weasley or Dragomir either. Got it?"

Harry nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation.

"Anya?" asked Stefan.

"You don't have to tell me twice. I got some blood while you were talking, so I'm heading to my lab to run some muggle tests. Harry, are you sure you're going to be alright on your own?" asked Anya.

"I'll be fine, he's asleep. What's the worst that could happen? Just leave the book here; I don't want to get bored."

Anya ruffled his hair and left with Stefan. Harry let out a breath and sat down in his corner again. He began reading the book again, strangely amused yet interested. Soon, he began nodding off and finally fell asleep.

Taking everything under consideration, falling asleep in a hostile dragon's enclosure was the second stupidest thing Harry did. The first one was dating Cho Chang.

Harry woke up when he felt someone breathing heavily near him. He kept his eyes closed for as long as possible.

Shit Shit SHIT.

He slowly opened his eyes, hoping that this was a dream. He found himself staring into beautiful, round grey eyes. He scrambled backwards until his back touched the wall. Those eyes were burning with such intense emotion that Harry couldn't bring himself to look away.

All his training about how to deal with a hostile went out the window as he looked into those eyes. His hand stretched on its own accord to touch the dragon. He ignored every fiber of his body that was screaming at him to not do something as monumentally stupid as touching a wild dragon. But he did it anyway.

As soon as his hand touched Draco's snout, the dragon whipped his head away and staggered backwards. Harry gulped, that obviously was a wrong move. The dragon watched him steadily without blinking. Somehow Harry mentally started calling him the dragon instead of Draco. It was kind of difficult to put a name to it when said dragon was trying to kill you.

The dragon moved closer, his steps painfully slow. It moved closer and closer until Harry's face was a hair's breadth away. It gave him one last look, opened its mouth and let out the most ear-splitting roar, effectively turning Harry deaf.

As the dragon opened its mouth once more, to either roar or eat Harry, only one thought resonated in Harry's mind.

Well, I'm fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read and review!


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Little violence, lots of swearing, slash and a sassy dragon.
> 
> Disclaimer: All mentioned characters belong to J.K Rowling. (except Nico, Stefan and Anya)

Harry closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. He held his breath and waited, and waited. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that the dragon had moved away and was watching him with a curious expression. Harry sighed in relief and dropped down onto the floor. He warily eyed the dragon.

"You really scared me," he said.

The dragon just stared at him, eyes unblinking. Harry rubbed his eyes and sighed.

"If I'm going to train you, we need to make a deal. You don't kill me and I won't shove you off to some other trainer, okay?"

The dragon just cocked his head to the side, as if he understood Harry. Suddenly, Anya, Charlie, Nico and Stefan burst in with their wands out. The dragon (dammit Potter call him Draco) roared and prepared to charge at the new arrivals. Harry ran towards him to calm him down.

As soon as his hand touched Draco's flank, he calmed down.

"They're friends. No killing or maiming them. Alright, Draco?"

Draco just turned and walked away. All of them just stood there, stunned. They had heard of dragons with attitude, but damn Draco's put them all to shame. If dragons were sassy, Draco would be their king.

"Are you okay Harry?" asked Anya.

Harry nodded, still too stunned to reply. Charlie broke out laughing and got a weird look from everyone. He held up one hand and continued to laugh for some time. He wiped his tears and started to explain.

"Come on, don't you think it's a bit weird that the first dragon Harry has to tame is a sassy dragon named Draco?"

All he got were weird looks. "Tough crowd," he murmured.

"Moving on," said Stefan pointedly. "I think it's great that your dragon responds to you, Harry. It's very rare that a dragon connects so well with its keeper in the beginning. But tell me why was roaring in the first place?"

Harry sheepishly explained what had happened, sending Charlie into more fits of laughter. The other three, however, were not amused. He got yelled at for being careless from Anya and a very disapproving look from Stefan. Nico just stood there with an inscrutable expression on his face that made Harry feel very guilty.

After a mumbled from Harry and another lecture Stefan and Anya left. Charlie, still chuckling from the incident came and wacked Harry on his head.

"You need to be careful, kid. Not every dragon is going to as nice as yours. Next time you fall asleep in an enclosure with a hostile dragon, you might not wake up," said Charlie. Harry nodded and promised to be more careful. Satisfied, Charlie ruffled Harry's hair and walked away. Nico continued looking at him with the same expression. Harry fidgeted under the stare.

"Please say something, anything. I feel horribly guilty," said Harry nervously.

Nico sighed, walked up to Harry and wrapped his arms around him.

"You have no idea how terrified I was when I realized that the roar was from your dragon's enclosure. If something would have happened to you, what would I have done? But, when I saw the way you handled him, I knew that my fears were irrational. And plus, you looked very hot when you were authoritative."

Harry blinked. "Does this mean you like me? That's brilliant, I was so sure that you were just teasing me and I feel like such an idiot…"

"Harry drăguță, you're babbling. Of course I like you, what gave you the impression that I don't?" laughed Nico. He gently kissed Harry on his nose.

Harry stiffened and backed out of the embrace. He stood there, just looking at him. He finally fixed Nico with a hard look and looked into his eyes.

"It was you the other day with Anton. That's his name, isn't it? You had your arms around him and you kissed him on the nose. Just like you did right now and you even told him that you loved him," said Harry. His tone was very calm but eyes betrayed his anger.

Flashback-

Harry was walking back to his quarters after dinner. Man, that was one weird conversation, he thought to himself as he walked. Still chuckling over the bad dragon dung jokes, he almost missed the two shadows talking. The two people were talking pretty intimately and Harry decided not to disturb them. He saw the taller one wrap his arms around his lover and kiss his nose. Harry smiled and turned around to walk away. As he walked away he heard a hushed murmur.

"Anton drăguță, I love you so much."

Harry stopped, his chest feeling heavy. He knew that voice, but it couldn't be. It wasn't possible, not in the slightest. He shook his head and continued walking. He trusted Nico with his life, there's no way he would break that trust.

End flashback.

Nico's face rapidly changed expressions. It went from shock to confusion and finally settled on guilt. He looked away from Harry and spoke in a quiet voice.

"Harry, listen to me, I never intended to hurt you. I still care for you deeply. Anton was my ex and that night was just a foolish mistake. We had dated for two years, it was hard to let go of him and that night he had come to apologize. The relationship was over long before you came here. Please, I would never hurt you. Please believe me."

Harry looked away from Nico. He knew that if he looked at Nico's blue pleading eyes, his resolve would falter and he would end up doing something stupid.

"I believe you when you say that you didn't want to hurt me. Now believe me when I say, I don't want to hurt you. Get out of here or I promise you that you will leave with missing body parts."

Nico flinched, but stood his ground.

"No, I will not leave no matter how much you threaten me. I realize that I have hurt you very deeply, but you haven't given me a chance to explain. Hear me out once, Harry. That's all I'm asking. And I promise that if you don't like my explanation or don't believe it, I'll leave. I'll even let you maim me. Just hear me out, give me a chance" pleaded Nico.

Harry stood there, considering his options. He had really liked Nico and had hoped that they would have a lasting relationship. But now, everything had changed. But, before Harry could say anything, Charlie stormed in and slammed Nico against the wall.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU FUCKING DARE MESS WITH MY FAMILY?" roared Charlie. "ONE WORD FROM HARRY AND I'D CHOP YOUR BALLS OFF. BUT THAT IDIOT IS TOO NICE TO SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT. SO ALL YOU GET IS A WARNING. STAY AWAY FROM HARRY AND STAY AWAY FROM ME. IF I SEE YOU WITHIN SPITING DISTANCE FROM HARRY, I WILL FIND YOU AND I WILL DISMEMBER YOU IN THE MOST PAINFUL WAY IMAGINABLE. ARE WE CLEAR?"

"Crystal."

Nico had a neutral expression when Charlie was yelling at him. Charlie let him go and glared at him furiously. Nico straightened out his clothes and looked at Harry with a sad expression.

"I never did mean to hurt you and I will always care for you," said Nico. "I hope that one day you'll find it in your heart to forgive me."

Saying that, he walked out with as much dignity as he could. Harry let out a shaky breath and Charlie walked over and put an arm around his shoulder.

"It's going to be alright, kid," said Charlie. "It's not the end of the world and there are guys out there hotter than Dragomir. So cheer up."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, it's probably for the best that I found out now." Then, he blinked as if realizing something.

"Hey Charlie, not that I'm ungrateful or anything, but why were you outside the enclosure? Did you come to check up on me?"

"Oh bugger, I completely forgot! Anya asked you to try and form some kind of a bond with your dragon. The fact that he responded to your voice and touch is great, but she wants you to work a little more on it."

"Oh," said Harry. "I can do that, but right now I think Draco's asleep. Otherwise it wouldn't be so quite here. One would think that after sleeping for twenty-four hours, a dragon would be well rested."

Charlie chuckled and craned his neck the back of the enclosure, where a silver dragon was happily snoring.

drăguță- sweetheart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read and review!


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: EWE, Slash, mild swearing.
> 
> Disclaimer: All mentioned characters belong to J.K Rowling.

Harry summoned a book from his room and sat down to read it while Draco slept. He read for two hours straight before realizing his arse was numb. He put his book down, got up and stretched. After that he wiggled his bum around to get some feeling into it. While he was wiggling, he spotted amused grey eyes looking at him.

"Well, look who's awake. Are you up for some basic exercises?" he asked the Draco.

Draco just cocked his head and looked at Harry questioningly. Harry sighed and scratched his head. Draco might be exceptionally smart at understanding what he said, but he would have to demonstrate some of the exercises.

"Er…before we start anything, let me have a look at your injuries."

He slowly removed his wand and held it out. Draco growled at it, but didn't do anything else. Harry took that as a positive sign and pointed it towards Draco. He murmured a diagnostic spell that Anya had taught him and waited for the results. He remembered what Anya had told him, green is good and red is bad. If the graphs show more red, then he should wait another day before starting any physical activity. Unfortunately, today there was more red than green in the graphs.

Harry sighed and sat down. Draco imitated him and stared at him, waiting for instructions.

"We can't do any physical stuff today, you're still healing. We can talk, or rather I can talk and you can listen. I know you're no ordinary dragon and that you can understand what I say. Today has been a wonderfully eye-opening day, so just nod once if you want to hear me rant."

Strangely enough, Draco nodded and made himself comfortable. Harry was surprised but he started talking and not once did Draco's eyes leave his face.

So, Harry talked and talked. He talked about how the Dursleys mistreated him, about Sirius, about his parents and about Voldemort. He talked about how much he missed Ron and Hermione and about how he realized he was gay. He also told him the whole story about becoming a dragon keeper in the reservation and how much he owed Charlie for teaching him everything he knew. And finally he came to Nico.

Harry had never felt so free in his life. Talking to Draco had helped more than years of therapy could. He just needed a non-judgmental person to just listen. He didn't want anyone to help or offer solutions; he just needed someone to listen.

But, Harry had been thoroughly shocked to see different emotions in Draco's eyes as he talked about his life. There was anger when he mentioned the Dursleys and Voldemort and sympathy when he mentioned Sirius and his parents. But nothing prepared him for the intense anger that shone through grey eyes when he talked about Nico. Draco roared furiously and would have charged outside to tear Nico to pieces, if Harry hadn't stopped him.

"Hey, calm down! You act like he personally ripped your wing off or something equally bad. He was an asshole, they're everywhere. It's just my luck that I travelled 2,500 kilometers away from home and still found one."

Draco settled down again, a little huffily and snorted. Harry just laughed and shook his head. He had the pleasure to deal with the sassiest and weirdest dragon in the country. He cast a tempus charm and was shocked to know that it was way past his lunch hour. Draco would probably be feeling hungry too, he thought.

"Okay, time for lunch. I'll be sending Anton with your lunch soon, okay? He's responsible for feeding all the dragons, so please don't roast him. He's a bit shorter than me, has blond hair and brown eyes. It's best if you pretend to be asleep when he shows up. I'll be back in about 30 minutes. Be good."

As he left, Harry swore he saw the dragon roll his eyes at his back. He chuckled and walked towards the dining hall. He couldn't wait to get back to Draco and observe the dragon some more. When he reached there, the hall was practically empty. He grabbed a sandwich, an apple and some chocolate milk and planted himself at one of the tables. As he munched his apple, his thoughts began to wander towards the general direction of the human Draco.

I wonder how he is right now, Harry mused. I hope he's as fit as he was during school. Harry choked on his apple and coughed until tears came from his eyes. Where did THAT thought come from? He quickly changed his trail of thought to avoid further accidents and finished his lunch as fast as humanely possible.

He walked back to the enclosure, whistling to himself. He even waved cheerfully at some other keepers on his way. They probably think I'm crazy, he chuckled to himself. I did almost get mauled by a dragon this morning.

He spotted Anton on the way and stopped to talk to him.

"Hey Anton. I hope Draco didn't give you any trouble today."

"Oh no, not at all Harry. You're very lucky to be training such a beautiful and friendly dragon," smiled Anton.

Anton was just 17 and the only reason he was working there was because he was Stefan's nephew. He hero-worshipped Harry and Harry treated him like a younger brother.

"Thanks. I better get going then, Draco's probably bored by now," grinned Harry.

Anton laughed and waved goodbye.

Harry walked into the enclosure when suddenly, he heard Draco growl. He quickly went to see what was wrong. He found Draco cornering someone and growling at that person.

"Harry call off your dragon before I'm forced to curse him," came Nico's voice.

"Draco, please back off. And Dragomir, if you as much as point your wand in Draco's general direction, I will personally make sure that you won't be able to use one for the rest of your life."

Harry's voice was cool and menacing. Draco slowly backed off and stood next to Harry, eyes never leaving Nico's face. Nico watched them calmly before speaking.

"I see that your bond has developed well within a few hours. As was expected from an exceptionally talented wizard and an equally intriguing dragon."

Harry crossed his arms and glared. "What do you want Nico?"

"I just want to talk, without Weasley breathing down my neck."

"You have five minutes, better make them count," said Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read and review!


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: EWE, Slash, swearing, no beta so feel free to point out any mistakes
> 
> Disclaimer: All mentioned characters belong to J.K Rowling.

Nico looked at Draco with barely concealed disgust before looking at Harry and smiling. Harry suppressed a shiver when he saw that smile. This was not the man that made him blush, that smile belonged to a cold-blooded killer.

"Did you ever wonder why this dragon ended up here instead of the Welsh reservation?" began Nico casually. "You were smart enough to figure out that this is no ordinary dragon. Why don't you give this one a go?"

Harry glared defiantly at him, not uttering a single word. Beside him, Draco tensed up, as if ready to charge.

"No?" chuckled Nico. "That's too bad. I would have enjoyed hearing your ridiculous theories. I'll tell you why the dragon was sent here. It was sent here, so that the Savior of the Wizarding world could kill it."

Harry's eyes widened in shock. Draco had gone completely still and was slowly trying to inch away from Harry.

"Why?" demanded Harry. "Why would I ever kill a dragon when I'm sworn to protect them? Especially such a special and rare one."

Nico grinned maniacally. "Oh trust me; you would enjoy killing this one. What if I told you that this person is indirectly involved in the death of your mentor? And that his family is responsible for much more?"

Harry gasped. "Did you just say person? What kind of a monster would turn an innocent human being into an animal? Not just any animal, but one of the most hostile animals in our world?"

"He is not innocent," said Nico harshly. "His father is a vile person who's responsible for the rise of the Dark Lord and many deaths. To top it off, they weren't even punished. All they got was a slap on the wrist and house arrest."

Nico shook his head disgustedly. "We couldn't do anything about his mother, she was too socially active. The boy on the other hand, was rarely seen in public. We should have tortured him and put him to death the very day we caught him. But, we felt this would be a fitting end to his miserable life."

Harry groaned in frustration and resisted the urge to pull his hair. He was never good at guessing games and Nico was starting to annoy him with his monologue.

"WHO IS THIS PERSON?"

"Draco Malfoy," smirked Nico.

Harry felt the room spin. Draco Malfoy!? How is that even possible? Bloody hell, I poured my heart to Draco-sodding-Malfoy. How am I going to turn him back? Will he still be hot when he's human again? Harry cleared his heads of his less than helpful thoughts and focused on the situation in front of him.

Then, all hell broke loose. With a roar, Draco charged at Nico flinging him to the other side of the room. Nico's back hit the wall and he crumpled down to the floor. Draco was about to breathe fire on Nico, but Harry stopped him.

Nico slowly pulled out his wand, coughing up blood. He smiled a bloody smile and pointed it at Draco.

"Expelliarmus," said Harry and pocketed Nico's wand with shaking hands. He pointed his own at Nico's chest and said, "You try to move and I'll rip you apart."

Nico started laughing and looked at Harry with bright eyes.

"I wonder what they're going to do to your dragon now, Harry. You know that dragons that are proven to be extremely hostile or that willingly attack people are put down for the good of the reservation? Which jury is going to pardon your dragon? No one knows its species or how dangerous it is. Good luck protecting it now."

Harry felt his blood run cold. Still laughing and coughing blood, Nico just sat there enjoying Harry's discomfort. He still hadn't processed the fact that Draco Malfoy was his dragon Draco. He felt numb and light headed when suddenly he realized, Nico had said we.

He walked over to Nico and held him by his neck.

"You said we, who is it that you work for? Start talking before I strangle you right here."

"Even if I told you, it wouldn't be of any use because they're untouchable by the law. But since you asked so nicely, I'll tell you."

While Harry was interrogating Nico, Draco moved into a corner and listened to their conversation.

"I don't work for anyone in particular. A few months ago, I was approached by person who wanted to get rid of Draco Malfoy. He promised my family a life of comfort and luxury, all I had to do was make you fall in love with me and help me kill the dragon. I was a bit hesitant at first of course, I had a boyfriend and I was scared I would get caught. But, he showed me the benefits of the endeavor. I could help the world get rid of another death eater and earn the love of Harry Potter. He even gave me this excellent potion that dispelled all my fears and made me forget my inhibitions. He called himself Wormwood. I'm pretty sure he's from London because he was the one that kidnapped Malfoy."

Harry controlled the urge to punch the man in front of him. He spoke so cheerfully and calmly, as if he hadn't just ruined another man's life. Whoever this Wormwood person was, he was dangerous and needed to be stopped immediately. Harry sighed. He needed Stefan and some veritaserum immediately.

He stupefied Nico and sent a patronus to Stefan asking him to come to the enclosure along with Anya, Charlie and a bottle of veritaserum if they had any. He then went and sat down next to Draco.

"So, you really are Draco huh?"

Draco gave him an "are-you-stupid" look and snorted. Harry chuckled, some things never change. He leaned against Draco and closed his eyes. He smiled to himself when he felt Draco's tail curl around him. He knew when his friends arrived there would be no peace.

He opened his eyes when he heard footsteps. The three of them burst into the enclosure with their wands out. Harry gave them a tired wave.

"Bloody hell, Potter. This is the second time I've come into this enclosure thinking that something horrible has happened to you," grumbled Stefan.

Anya gasped when she spotted Nico lying unconscious on the floor. She rushed towards him and checked to see if he was alright.

"He's breathing, but I think he has a broken rib," she declared.

"Not that I don't like it, Harry but mind telling me why Dragomir's on the floor?" asked Charlie, amused.

"You better sit down; it's a bit of a long story."

"It's never a short one when it comes to you," said Charlie, sitting down. "What did Dragomir do that pissed you off so much that you knocked him unconscious?"

Harry chuckled and told them the entire story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read and review!


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: EWE, Slash, swearing, no beta so feel free to point out any mistakes
> 
> Disclaimer: All mentioned characters belong to J.K Rowling.

After he finished, he wasn't surprised to see three disbelieving looks. Harry sighed and rubbed the back of his neck wearily.

"I know it's a lot to take in and I admit that it sounds ridiculous. But you have to believe me; someone turned Draco Malfoy into a dragon."

"Harry," began Stefan. "I'm not questioning what you say, but I don't think we should listen to anything that Nico says until we have certain proof. I'll have to contact the government and have them send aurors to interrogate him. But until then, you're not getting involved. You will do your job as usual; it is time for you to start the physical aspect of your dragon's training. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go talk to some annoying ministry personnel." Sighing at the absurdity of the situation, Stefan left the enclosure.

"That went better than it could have," stated Charlie. "I have to ask though, what are we going to do with Dragomir? We can't just leave him here with Draco, he'll be killed." He paused. "On second thought, that might not be such a bad idea."

Harry laughed weakly and Anya smacked the back of Charlie's head. Charlie pouted.

"It was just an idea," he protested. "Anyway, I think you should go back to your dorm Harry."

Harry blinked. "What brought this on suddenly?"

Anya nodded. "He's right, Harry. You're probably tired from all this drama. We'll look after Draco for you."

"Fine, I'll go. But, if anything happens you better wake me up."

"Yes, yes. I'll call you if anything happens to your precious Draco," sniggered Charlie.

Harry glared at him one last time before heading towards his dorm for some much deserved sleep.

"Oi, Potter. Wake up, there's someone here to see you."

Harry woke up to someone shaking him roughly. He blinked for a few seconds before focusing on Charlie's grinning face.

"Come on, it's someone you want to meet."

Still half-asleep, he stumbled behind Charlie and walked straight into somebody.

"Oof. Harry mate, watch where you're going," said a familiar voice.

Harry blinked. "Ron?"

"Why are you so confused?" teased Ron. "Are you drunk or something?"

"Shut it, I was asleep," Harry glared half-heartedly. "What brings you here anyway?"

Ron frowned. "I'm great, thanks for asking. It's good to see you too."

"Sorry mate," said Harry sheepishly. "I'm still a bit disoriented."

Ron grumbled but let it go. "To answer your question, I'm here because of you."

"Me?"

"Yes. I'm the auror-in-charge for Draco Malfoy's case. So when the Romanian Ministry contacted us asking about him, I was sent here to help them. I was supposed to surprise you with a visit, but the Ministry sent me here for investigation. Care to shed some light?"

Before Harry could say anything, Stefan interrupted them.

"Auror Weasley, please come to my office. We have much to discuss and I do not appreciate you interrogating my keepers without my permission. Potter, it would be best for you to go check on your dragon."

Ron looked like he was about to protest, but Harry silenced him with a look. With a nod towards Harry, Stefan led Ron towards his office.

"We'll catch up later, Harry," Ron called out.

Harry still disoriented, jumped when Charlie's cheerful voice sounded next to him. He had forgotten that Charlie was still there.

"Wasn't that a fun reunion?"

He just shook his head muttering about 'annoying Weasleys' and needing 'a strong cup of coffee before dealing with anyone.' He left a sniggering Charlie and went to get himself some coffee.

Once he was finally awake after having a cup of black coffee, Harry decided to pay Esmeralda a visit. He didn't have the time to visit her after Draco had arrived and felt guilty for ignoring her for so long. Also, Charlie told him Draco was still asleep so visiting him was out of the question.

As Harry walked towards her enclosure, he reminisced about his time at the reservation before Draco had arrived. He chuckled as he remembered his first day.

He was absolutely terrified of everyone and everything. The older keepers looked at him with disdain and treated him with indifference. The younger ones were clearly in awe of him and to put it plainly, kissed his ass. The only one who treated him like a human being was Charlie. He clearly remembered the day Charlie stood on a table in the dining hall and announced, "Oi, Harry Potter is not Merlin reincarnated nor is he the dust beneath your feet. Treat him how you would treat everyone else. If I hear about someone giving him shit for being who he is, I'll bloody beat that person to death. Do I make myself clear you thick-headed buffoons?"

There were shocked murmurs of agreement and Harry got a few dirty looks from the older keepers. But he was eternally grateful to Charlie for sticking up for him. After the scene in the dining hall, everyone treated him equally or at least tried to.

He chuckled again and continued walking. He whistled as he went into Esmeralda's enclosure, hoping to find her in a good mood.

He sighed when he saw that she was also sleeping. I should have expected that. Old dragons sleep more because of their lack of activity, he thought. He sighed once again and patted her snout.

"Maybe next time, old girl," he said softly. "I promise I'll visit more often and I will definitely bring you a treat next time."

With one final pat he left the enclosure, not sure when he would find the time to come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read and review!


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Mild violence, slash, swearing.
> 
> Disclaimer: All the characters belong to J.K Rowling.

Ronald Weasley was a patient man. He was no longer the short tempered teenager who let his fists speak for him. This quality was greatly appreciated in the auror department and he benefitted immensely because of it. But right now, he wanted nothing more than to punch the living daylights out of the lunatic sitting in front of him. They were sitting in Stefan's office and had been left alone at Ron's request.

Nicholae Dragomir, the man Harry gushed about every time he fire-called them, was a raving lunatic. He openly and quite cheerfully admitted to tricking Harry and aiding the kidnapping of Draco Malfoy. Also there was the minor fact that he claimed Draco Malfoy had been turned into a dragon.

Ron felt his patience running thin. He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Please enlighten me on how you managed to turn a man into a dragon."

Nico laughed scornfully.

"You're barking up the wrong tree, Auror Weasley. It's Wormwood you're looking for, not me."

"And I suppose you're going to tell me how to find him," said Ron sarcastically.

Nico smiled. "You're frustrated aren't you? You don't make a very good auror, you know. Your emotions are clearly displayed on your face. The ministry's standards have really dropped, but it really does pay to be Harry Potter's friend."

Ron glared at the man but didn't say anything. Nico's smile grew as he continued.

"You want to hit me, I can feel it," said Nico gleefully. "Did you know how hilarious Potter is when he's in love? He followed me around like a lost puppy, pathetic really. The only thing I regret is that I couldn't get him into bed. How many people can brag about the fact that they fucked The Chosen One?"

As soon as he uttered the sentence, Nico felt an intense pain and fell out of the chair. He chuckled and righted himself. He ignored the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and started laughing hysterically.

Ron stared at the insane man in front of him, hand stinging a little. He shook his head in disgust and left the room before he did anything he would regret.

He saw Stefan and Charlie outside talking softly. He cleared his throat to get their attention and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Please restrain him for me; I'll have to take him to London. I don't want to take any risks by restraining him myself; I already punched him in the face. Knock him out if you have to, I give you full freedom. Just don't hurt him, I don't want to explain anymore bruises," he said wearily.

Charlie put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Go talk to Harry, he's probably with Draco. We'll take care of things here. And if anyone asks about the bruises, tell them the dragon did it."

With a tired smile and a grateful nod towards Stefan, Ron set out to find Harry.

"You have to do it someday, so why don't you start today?" coaxed Harry.

Draco just let out a growl and turned away from him. Harry resisted the urge to pull his hair and scream. To say that the dragon was stubborn would be a gross understatement.

To help with Draco's boredom and to check how his wings were healing, Harry decided it was time to start flying exercises. He came into Draco's enclosure that morning with a cheerful disposition and announced that they would finally get to do something fun.

His happy announcement was met with a un-dragon-like snort as Draco settled back into peaceful slumber. Determined to do something productive, Harry started poking Draco with a stick and tried sweet talking him out of the enclosure.

When his arse-kissing failed, Harry resorted to bribery.

"You know, if you attempt a couple of exercises with me right now, I'll take you swimming."

When the dragon didn't seem to understand, Harry explained further.

"Remember the lake on the outskirts of the reservation? Of course you wouldn't, you were injured at that time. But the point is, sometimes we are allowed to take dragons there for a quick swim. So, what do you say, five exercises for an hour in the lake?"

Draco's eyes lit up and he let out a happy roar. Harry laughed and led him out of the enclosure, keeping a hand on him the entire time.

They slowly walked towards the lake, enjoying the wonderful weather. Harry kept up a constant stream of endless babble that seemingly amused Draco.

"You know," said Harry, thoughtfully. "I don't know why we didn't try this before."

He looked at Draco for a minute and continued, "The Lake is rumored to have healing properties, but they're just rumors as far as I know. Maybe it'll help heal your injuries and who knows; maybe it'll even turn you back to your obnoxious self."

Draco growled at that and pushed Harry none-too-gently, snorting when he landed on his bum. Harry chuckled and shook his head, still the same git as before.

Ron walked around the reservation, deep in thought. Why would someone target Harry, he mused. He understood why someone wanted to take revenge on Draco Malfoy, but why Harry Potter?

He reached Draco's enclosure, only to find it empty. Confused, he asked the nearest person if they knew where Harry disappeared. It turned out to be a new trainee who hero-worshipped Harry.

"Hey mate, do you know where Harry ran off to?" asked Ron.

"R-Ron W-Weasley, I-I…h-he, THE LAKE," he squeaked.

"Thanks," said Ron, trying to control his laughter.

The boy squeaked again and fled the scene.

Ron chuckled and began his 15-minute walk to the lake.

Harry glared at the dragon in front of him. The flying exercises had been nothing short of a disaster. When Harry tried to help Draco stretch his wings and keep his balance, he was unceremoniously knocked to the side by the dragon. Once he regained his breath, Harry sat up to see his unruly charge enjoying himself in the lake.

Draco ignored his trainer and focused on the cool water surrounding him. Harry wasn't lying when he said the lake had healing properties. He could feel his wounds closing and felt his strength returning. He observed Harry from the corner of his eyes, who was suddenly joined by Weasley. Draco narrowed his eyes, he never liked Weasley and he wasn't going to start now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read and review!

**Author's Note:**

> Please read and review!


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